


BnHA: The Silver Samurai

by Gintoki_19



Category: Gintama, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Action/Adventure, Backstory, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Comedy, Crossover, Dark Past, Funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2020-05-13 17:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19256035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gintoki_19/pseuds/Gintoki_19
Summary: Quirkless Izuku Midoriya aspires to become a Pro Hero, despite everyone telling him he can't. Follow his journey through life as he chases his dream with a strange roleplaying samurai known as Gintoki.





	1. The First Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a multi-chapter work and I can ensure you it will get much better as I continue!

_Have no fear, because Endeavor is here!_   
  
I awoke to my alarm clock screaming the catch phrase, slicing my arms upward through the air in the hope I would take flight. Failing that task, I made some mystical gestures with my hand in the hopes of forcing my closet doors open. While the closet remained shut, my mother opened my door to ensure my alarm woke me up, prompting me to clench my fists and shut my eyes to turn invisible.   
  
"I can still see you Izuku. You need to get dressed and come down, otherwise you'll be late to school," she said in a sympathetic tone. I rustled a bit in my sheets.   
  
"Hear me out, let's say I wait until five minutes before class starts and then I leave. I'm sure a speed quirk will make itself known and I..."   
  
"Izuku please, just get dressed and leave early," she softly retorted, stopping my hopes before they got any higher. This was our routine every morning, a routine I've gone through since I was old enough to know about quirks. Quirks started appearing a few generations ago in a select number of people, rapidly spreading to the rest of the population. With it rose a new career: becoming a hero. While many become heroes, there are only a select few that are known as the top heroes. However, if you have the extremely rare case of being quirkless, being just like me, you can't become a hero. Despite this, I repeat my routine every morning, always hoping my quirk will rise.

I stumbled out of bed towards my closet, dragging out my black jacket with golden buttons, smooth black slacks with a matching black belt looped inside, and finally my white shirt with a drawing of Endeavor to wear underneath. The school uniform was bland, aside from the shirt, which was allowed only due to Endeavor being an alum of our school and holding the title of number one hero. Like my school, I also held him in high regard as my inspiration to become a hero myself. I've spent countless hours watching videos of him bringing peace to a battlefield, saving trains and planes transporting civilians and precious cargo alike, and facing off against the infamous League of Villains. I made a note of every move and technique he has used in the field in my Hero Journal, along with notes of every hero I've ever seen in action. I always carry it around with me, often drawing in it while in class, and it has earned me the title of the “Quirkless Fan Boy.” I try not to let it bother me so much, since I personally believe my journal beats any hero guide on the market, and it makes being quirkless a little less miserable. One day I hope another hero, or even myself, can use all the notes I’ve made to defeat a villain somewhere in the world. I slipped my journal into my bag before heading downstairs, enjoying breakfast, and walking to school.

 

* * *

 

 

“Alright class, summer vacation is coming up and you all have very big choices ahead of you. Especially those of you aiming to take the UA entrance exams in a few weeks. One by one, I would like all of you to come to the front of the class and tell everyone your plans before you are dismissed for the day,” the teacher instructed full of optimism and excitement as he stood before all his prized students. We were the top class in the school, so he had very high expectations of us, so much so he has been pushing each of us towards a discipline he believed we’d excel at. The first day of class he asked us all to state our future career goals so he could “make note of it,” which meant devise a plan to push us away from it if he believed we couldn’t do it. When I told him I’d like to become a Pro Hero, his eyes widened as he frantically scribbled all over my page the phrase “Please, anything but that.” Since that day, my desk has been littered with flyers for schools that excelled in anything related to analyzing data. I knew it was his doing, so I started leaving notes on his desk saying “Izuku will become a hero,” which he responded by placing flyers on my desk telling me how easy it was to become a DORK (Dumb Old Retarded Kook) or a Madao (totally hopeless old guy). He wasn't the only one who mocked me for wanting to be a hero. Practically everyone ridiculed me for my dream, especially my loud mouth childhood friend that was taking his spot at the front of the class.

“Listen up ya losers, I'm going to ace this UA exam without breaking a sweat and become a hero, unlike Deku who will become my assistant if he proves useful at all with his little diary,” shouted Bakugou as he gave me a death stare with the rest of the class laughing and applauding his proclamation. I tried to stay tall in my seat, nervously shaking as I held back the tears. Ka-chan had always tormented me and belittled me ever since we were kids, but for some reason I still looked up to him due to his power. It was my turn to go to the front of the room, and as I passed Bakugou I felt his foot slam down on mine. I clenched my fists to hold in the screams as he whispered in my ear with a chilling breath, “If you say you want to be a hero, I'll make sure to show you how powerless you are.” I stiffened at his threat, the rest of my walk to the front taking an eternity to complete. He always made threats, but this one felt different, heavier than a simple threat at lunch. This was a threat of war. If I did stay on the path to becoming a hero, I would remain within reach of his insults, his fists, his power. Turning to face the class, I planted my feet, took a gulp, and decided my fate, “I will pursue a career in becoming a Pro Hero so I can protect people, even if I'm…” I started to choke up at the thought of saying that word. To say it out loud would force me to accept reality. I could feel my face frosting over as the class’s winter gaze cut through my declaration, their mouths moving hysterically as they laughed at me. I was deaf to their cries, for I heard the sound of the bell dismissing us for the day, the signal it was time to run. My bag in hand, I bolted out of the classroom, swiftly followed by Bakugou and company as they raced after me. I could feel their murderous energy closing the gap as I exited the building.

_“I have to make it to downtown, they’ll have to not cause a scene there,”_ I desperately thought as I was running out of steam, “ _If only I could fight back, if only I had the strength to stand before him and not tremble, if only I had a quirk.”_ I could feel something sinister beginning to clutch my mind… no... my soul. “I’ve got you now Deku!” Bakugou let out a howl as I felt a light explosion launch me forward. As I flew through the air, I closed my eyes and braced for impact. After impact, my face was met with a chilling liquid that tasted of chocolate and my eyes gazed up at a strange looking man with naturally wavy hair.


	2. The Cosplay Samurai

“Have fun with your lame, roleplaying samurai friend there Quirkless Fan Boy. Be sure to show us what useless notes you take!” Bakugou shouted as they ran away from the accident. I rubbed my eyes to get a clearer look at the person and saw they weren’t exactly wrong. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, wearing a black jacket with red trim underneath his white kimono that was shrugged off on one side. There was a blue pattern near the arms and legs that resembled either winds or waves. Hoisted at his side was a wooden sword with the words “Lake Toya” inscribed on the hilt, obviously a sword he bought as a souvenir from some gift shop. His eyes had small red pupils that belonged to a dead fish, contrasted by his naturally wavy silver hair that shone in the sunlight. This guy definitely belonged in a roleplay convention or on a DORK poster. 

“Hey, hey! Writer, I do not belong there! Do not confuse me with a simple Madao, I can show you a true Madao! He lives on a park bench with a newspaper, we can go right now! And you there, you will buy me another parfait to replace the one you just destroyed so come with me,” the strange man yelled at the sky as he grabbed my collar and started dragging me along with him. 

“Hey where are you taking me?! Who is this Writer person in the sky? Better yet, who are you? ” I demanded, kicking and thrashing to get out of his grip to no avail. He was seriously strong for a cosplay samurai. 

“Writer, I swear I will say things that get this story shut down if you don't portray me in a better light!” he yelled shaking his fist to the sky, “Also, could you please quiet down kid, I don't need you making a scene out of this. We are just going to get a parfait to replace the one you destroyed.” His tone was sharp and serious on that last sentence, indicating just how important this frozen treat was to him. 

“Alright, alright, I understand, but could you at least let go of me so I can walk properly?” I questioned him earnestly, the back of my pants having suffered several rock related wounds from the dragging. He seemingly picked his nose as he let go of me, placing his finds on the next person that passed by. I trailed behind him for a few blocks, making sure I stayed just outside of his reach just in case he decided to attack me. Normally I wouldn’t have trouble understanding the intentions of another person, but he was different from any person I had ever met. 

“So tell me about your friends from earlier. You all trying to pull some sick prank on somebody by ruining their day and taking away the one thing they hold dear?” It sounded like he was mourning the death of a loved one. 

“First of all, they aren’t exactly my friends. Did you not see the panic on my face as I was launched by an explosion from Ka-chan’s hand?!”

“Well for them not being your friend’s, you sure have a cute name for one of them,” he snickered, puckering up his face and eyes as he turned around to mock me. 

“At least I didn’t start dragging a kid around because of a stupid custard,” I retorted. 

“It was NOT just a stupid custard. As your mossy head slammed into my precious child, I practically heard him calling out to me ‘Mr. Sakata, I don’t feel so good. I don’t want to go anywhere but your stomach.”

“So I’m guessing your quirk is the ability to talk to food products. Let me just jot this down as possibly the worst quirk to have…” I joked as I started to take out my hero journal. 

“You’d be wrong, because I have no quirk kid.”

My body froze as he finished his sentence. What are the odds that I found another quirkless person by chance?  _ “There’s no way he is quirkless. He must be ashamed that talking to food really is his quirk.”  _ Before I had a chance to question him further, I noticed he stopped walking as well. His head was turned to our left, his eyes were extremely focused on the distant surroundings. Suddenly a high pitched scream erupted in the same direction, and as I turned my head to see what was happening, Mr. Sakata had taken off. His body moved like a flash of silver light racing towards its destination. The scene unfolding before me was a mass armed robbery… in the school’s parking lot. I felt bullets of sweat roll over my face as I witnessed all my teachers held at gunpoint, but for some reason I didn’t run away. I stood still so I could watch how Mr. Sakata handled it. As he approached the gate to the parking lot, the robbers turned their attention towards him, fired a barrage of bullets and smoke, and retrieved the wallets and purses from the teachers before making a run for it. As I was about to run to check on the teachers, I heard a cry from inside the smoke.

“Oh no you don’t!” Mr. Sakata screamed as he jumped out of the smoke, toy sword in hand, and dashed towards the robbers. He caught up to them with ease, striking them down with one decisive blow. I stared in amazement as he returned the stolen goods to their rightful owners, with the last one being my final period teacher.

“Thank you so much Mr. Samurai sir, we are all glad you could be here,” he thanked Mr. Sakata, who was now standing by me, “Ah Deku, I see trouble isn’t far from you now is it? I hope this little scenario shows you that it really is best you become a DORK or Madao. A quirkless child like you could never become a hero like this man here.”

“No need to thank me. It was thanks to your school girl scream that I could intervene at the right time,” Mr. Sakata laughed as he tossed my teacher’s wallet to him. He put an arm around my back and pushed me forward with him as he walked. “Listen, Deku was it? Why don’t we treat ourselves to parfaits.”

“Mr. Sakata, I don’t exactly have any money for that…”

“Who said we’d use either of our funds?” he smirked as he revealed my teacher’s credit card, “That man does not deserve to call himself a teacher if he knowingly belittles a student like that, even if it's you moss head. So, to call it even, he shall treat us to parfaits!” 

“Mr. Sakata I…” 

“Also, let’s agree you call me Gintoki or Gin or whatever from now on. Mr. Sakata is a decently long name for both the writer to type and the reader to read.”

I was about to retort his crazy statement, but I stopped myself short. I may have just met this silver haired samurai, but I knew my life would never be the same. I couldn’t help but crack a smile as Gin-san walked me into the most expensive parfait shop in town. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No new chapter until next week! Let me know your thoughts so far and what you'd like to see in the comments, and thanks for the support!


	3. I'm Not Chapter 3, I'm Katsura!

“Miss, two parfaits please!” sang Gin as we took our seats in the cafe. As I sat across from him, his demeanor was completely different from when I first ran into him. He seemed jubilant and carefree, excited like a kid in a candy store. I knew I had to find out more about him, especially about his quirk, but I had to work up to that question.

“So Gin-san, where are you from exactly?” I glanced at him as I asked, checking that he was actually paying attention.

“Well, I'm from the manga Gintama and the anime Gintama, Gintama’, Gintama°, and…” he trailed on in his ramblings.

“I think you've lost yourself in your role play character. Those things don't even exist,” I retorted, assured that this man was genuinely crazy.

“Well the anime’s budget was horribly managed, but it's coming back soon. As for the manga, the ending has been postponed again… Wait, what do you mean it doesn't exist?! Hey Writer! Make this kid aware of reality so he doesn't think I'm crazy! Don't make me use your name!” he yelled at the ceiling again, narrowing his eyes as he threatened the “writer.”

“Anyways, what character are you role-playing as?”

He slowly turned his narrowed eyes towards me, before slamming his hands down on the table and leaning close to my face, “I am not role-playing as anyone! I am Sakata Gintoki and this is my everyday appearance!” I glanced over his clothing one more time. It certainly wasn't an everyday appearance, it was an outfit that seemed to pay homage to samurai. Yet, he claims that he wears this everyday, which could only mean one thing…

“Aha! So that means you are a Pro Hero and this is your hero costume! What's your quirk then Gin, and what about your hero name?” I asked as I pulled out my journal to begin taking notes on him. I title his page “Sakata Gintoki” and left open parenthesis to insert his hero name. When I glanced back up at him, he was gazing out the window at the glittering bay, his chin resting on his hand.

“Deku, I'm not a Pro Hero or even a regular hero. As I already told you, I'm quirkless. Don't call me a hero or ask anything hero related about me because it doesn't apply to me,” he let out a sigh as he turned to see the waitress returning with our treats. His face brightened up as she slid the glasses to each of us. As soon as Gin inhaled the parfait, the waitress laughed and spoke, “I see you still love these treats Gintoki! I remember when we would have an occasional one with master…” Almost instinctively, Gin grabbed my spoon and smacked her in the forehead, giving rise to a large lump.

“Gin-San, why'd you assault her! She was just making friendly conversation!” I exclaimed as I bent down to help her up.

“I'm not her, I'm Katsura,” she said. I stared at her extremely puzzled, determined that her brain was just in a fritz from being hit with a spoon. I tried to help her up, but Gin started dragging me along with him again, “Come come now Deku, let's leave Zura here to think about what he's done.”

_ “Gin definitely just said he right? He totally just called our waitress a he named Zura. Don't tell me I've found another odd ball.” _

“I'm not Zura, I'm Katsura!” Katsura protested as he rose from the floor rubbing his forehead. He was wearing a plain white kimono with a darker blue jacket underneath and wore strange wooden sandals. He pulled out the hair bow from his waitress disguise, letting his long black hair flow freely down his back. I quickly stood up and rushed along with Gin to leave the scene. “Gintoki, come back! I have a job request for you, please! It's about Elizabeth, she's gone missing!” Katsura pleaded as he followed us down the street outside the cafe. Gin let out a sigh, picked his nose, and turned around to face him.

“Gin-san, who's Elizabeth?” I asked worryingly.

“Just his oversized duck-like pet” he replied indifferently.

“Elizabeth is not my pet, she is a loyal companion that has been by my side through everything. She has a tall, somewhat large figure that's curved at the top and flattened out at the bottom. She has these adorable fins at her side and will most likely be carrying a sign with her to communicate. Her eyes are large and endearing with three cute eyelashes and are located above her duck like mouth.” Katsura described as he painted her on an easel that came out of nowhere.

“Yes, so we are looking for a white Pac-Man ghost that has extremely hairy legs with slip on duck flippers,” Gin added as he started to walk away. I was extremely lost as to what Gin and Katsura described. I've never heard of a creature described like this, but it sounded just like the description of a duck if you asked two men stuck in a fantasy world. Gin motioned for us to follow him, and I realized we were actually walking towards the local pond.

_ “These people are actually looking for a pet duck aren't they,”  _ I thought, becoming more mentally exhausted as I processed what all has happened and what was bound to happen. As much as I wanted to leave them to search on their own, I knew that a hero would have to help people no matter how trivial the job was. Treating this as a hero exercise, I carefully created a plan for success,  _ “If we're duck hunting, I could use some leftover bread I have from lunch to lure her out. Once she takes the bait, I just have to jump on her while making sure I don't hurt her. ”  _ I wore a smirk on my face as I marveled at my brilliant plan and boldly declared that I would be the one to reunite Katsura with Elizabeth.

“Why thank you small child, I see Gintoki found himself a nice assistant,” Katsura laughed as he lightly patted Gin’s back. Gin threw his arm away and quickened his pace ahead of us. Once again, I felt his whole mood shift back into a troubled one.

“Katsura-san, who exactly is Gintoki?” I inquired, hoping that he could at least give me a little more information.

“Gintoki is man of oddity, but he is always a reliable comrade. Even if he doesn't show it, he is glad to have friends like us!” Katsura explained with a laugh as a red line began to race down his face. I glanced upwards to see a stick was sticking out of the lump, with a little tag that said “From: Gintoki.” I turned around to see Gin sitting on a bench, whistling an extremely suspicious and guilty tune. I was going to confront him about it, but in the corner of my eye I saw a white duck that had to be Elizabeth. I dove towards the duck, wrapped my arms around her, and tucked her close to my chest. 

 

“I caught Elizabeth without hurting her at all! My first heroic deed is a success!” I triumphantly exclaimed as I remained on the ground, the pain of the fall just now being registered. Before I could get up, the sound of violin screeching on a missed note rang in my ears as a net was cast over my body. I frantically turned to face the net caster to find a tall, somewhat large figure that's curved at the top and flattened out at the bottom, carrying a sign that read “Hands off!” It stared at me with large endearing eyes that had three cute eyelashes and a duck like mouth. 

 

“Elizabeth! Oh how happy I am to be reunited with you!” Katsura sang as he embraced my attacker with open arms. Elizabeth’s expression didn’t change, but her sign now read “ _ I got you a present, but that green haired thief stole it -_- _ ” Gin lifted the net off my body and gave me a hard smack on the back of my head for my stupidity. I presented Elizabeth with the duck while giving a shy smile, hoping she would be understanding. Instead, she violently hit my face with her sign, which now read “ _ Thanks for ruining my day   -_- _ ” 

 

“Come on kid, you got pretty beat up today. Zura thought you were my new partner and got you roped up into his antics, so it's only right I treat your wounds,” Gin explained as he motioned for me to follow him. The sun was beginning to set and I did not want to be left alone on the streets at night, especially not in this condition. I had no other choice but to accept his offer and follow him back to whatever place he called home. As we walked, I kept running over what all happened and the people I met. I pulled out my journal to write down any information before I forgot about it. Starting with my new additions of Katsura and Elizabeth. Katsura was the same as Gin in terms of dressing like an old samurai, but he didn’t seem to have any talent for hero work. He might do a little roleplay on the side with Gin as a great samurai duo, which would explain how he knows Gin. Maybe Gin was seemingly frustrated and distant to him since he felt that Katsura wasn’t putting all his effort into their roles. It would make sense, since he lacked a sword at his side, and didn’t exactly show any strengths, other than explaining he was Katsura and nothing else. Although, I do have to give points in the durability department as he wasn’t bothered by a stick being pierced through a head wound. His head must be used to experiencing constant pain, maybe from Gin assaulting him, or even worrying that he will lose Elizabeth one day. On that note, he definitely needs more friends since he appeared overly obsessed with Elizabeth. Speaking of which, what even is Elizabeth? She certainly wasn’t human, yet she wasn’t an animal either. An alien creature then? If so, from what world, how did she come here, and how did she meet Katsura? Maybe she was one of those heroes that wore a full-body hero costume to completely conceal their identity, or maybe her quirk allowed her to take the form of whatever creature she wants. If so, why would an oversized duck that speaks through a sign be her first choice? Considering she was getting Katsura a duck as a present, maybe she thought she could lure another duck if she took that form. Ah yes, that has to be it, a truly genius idea hatched by a shapeshifting hero. Then again, maybe she really is just that oversized duck alien creature that Gin described as some Pac-Man creature? Which then brings me to Gin…

 

“Hey kid! You’ve been walking into that wall for at least ten minutes now and your head looks like it might explode. Hey Writer! I think you’ve gotten his over-analyzing character trait across well enough in that mess of a monologue that belongs in fifth grader’s fanfiction where a girl mulls over two equally bad choices and finally chooses the best friend introduced in chapter 1! Give him a break already!” exclaimed Gin, who was once again yelling at the Writer in the sky. I shook my head to clear out my thoughts and followed Gin inside his home that had a sign above the entrance reading  _ “Otose’s Snack Bar.”  _

 

_ “Wait a minute, I thought we were going to his house, not a bar!?”  _


	4. The Snack Bar

I dropped my shoulders, wearing an exhausted expression on my face, as I opened the door to the establishment. Is it even legal for me to step foot inside this place? I mean, I guess I have no choice since I'd rather be safe inside than left on the streets. Yet how safe is any place that lunatic willingly goes to. If we got disturbed by a man with an alien duck lover complex, who knows what kind of people I'll find here. As I stepped through the door, I wasn't met with a strong smell of liquor or smoke. I wasn't met by anyone or anything at all. The atmosphere was oddly warm and welcoming, almost like stepping into your grandmother’s house. The lounge was small, hosting only two tables along the wall with small sofas surrounding them. On the right side was the actual bar, five barstools lined up in front of the glossy wooden countertop. No patrons sat in attendance, yet there was an older lady behind the bar wiping down a glass. Her black hair had strands of silver peeking out through the bun that was held up by a worn yellow ribbon. Her face was slightly wrinkled and showed signs of past stress, and between her teeth was a freshly lit cigarette. At first glance she appeared threatening, almost having the potential to be a yakuza’s queen. However, as she turned to greet me, her black eyes softly looked me over as she took out her cigarette and gave me a smile. 

“Ah, so you're what the cat dragged in,” she said as she took a puff of her cigarette. I looked at her extremely confused as no cat had dragged me in. “I don't mean a literal cat, I'm talking about the one you call ‘Roleplaying Samurai’,” she laughed as she motioned for me to come take a seat at the bar. I was reluctant, but felt that she had no intention of causing me harm, so I took a seat. She poured me a glass of orange juice and gave me an apple to snack on. 

“Thank you miss, but how did you know I called him that?”

“You can just call me Otose, no need to remind me how old I am with all those prefixes,” she said playfully, “and to answer your other question, he came in all grumpy spouting out ‘Why do I get stuck with the kid who has to go around name calling people because his mother named him Deku. I know he has resentment but he doesn't need to belittle me as a Roleplaying Samurai.’” I slumped down a little in my seat, somewhat hurt that he's dumb enough to think Deku is my real name. 

“Where is he now? Why’d he take me here if he was just going to drop me off and leave?” I questioned her. 

“He's upstairs in his apartment, probably already asleep. Even though he seems irresponsible and indifferent about most things, he tries to do right in the world. He knew I'd treat your wounds, so he brought you here.” she said staring at the ceiling while deep in thought. 

“So why doesn't he consider himself a hero if that's his lifestyle?” I asked curiously. 

“He has his own story that I will leave him to tell. Personally, I don't think he should carry the title of hero either. A hero takes on the flashy and life risking work that often gets national coverage, they do it for the acknowledgement and fame…”

“That's not true! Heroes save lives and protect the pe…”

“Which is why none showed up at the robbery today, right?” she gave me a look that tore into my beliefs, “Gintoki doesn't have interest in fame, fortune, or acknowledgement. He simply solves the problems for other people so they don't have to worry or struggle anymore.” I started to take out my journal to make note of this information but Otose placed her hand on the cover, “I see you still like to over analyze things, so just this once don't write anything down and just casually reflect on the information.” Her voice was so familiar with me, and her phrasing makes it seem like she has known me since I was child. While she is certainly more sane than the others, she still has this mystery around her that slightly worries me. “You can stay here for the night, and, before you say anything, I've already called your mother and she was alright with it, encouraged it actually. She said ‘it's so nice Izuku is venturing around and asking for help when he gets bullied.’ I left Gin out of the conversation as I don't know if she'd approve of him exactly. Tama, go ahead see this boy upstairs.” In the corner of my eye, I saw a woman with beautiful green hair walk towards me. It was in a tight braid held together by a red ribbon. She had on a dark blue yukata with a big red bow tied around her waist and a broom hoisted at her side. Her eyes were red, but held a gentle life in them that Gin’s didn't have. I was entranced by her charm until I saw a bolt like pattern around her neck. 

“It would be my pleasure miss. Right this way sir,” Tama said with a slight robotic tone. Protruding from where her ears should be were metallic headphones with short antennas pointing backwards. She was definitely a robot, but a very human one at that. As we walked outside to take the stairs, I had some questions I wanted to ask. 

“So Miss Tama, is your quirk related to robot like things?” 

She had a blank expression on her face for a few seconds before she answered, “My database does not show an entry for quirk. What is a quirk?” 

“Oh I see. So how did you meet Otose?”

“Mr. President saved my head and ensured I was fixed properly by the city's best mechanic. Afterwards, he brought me here to give me a sense of purpose as a maid.” she answered, seemingly happy thinking about Mr. President. 

“Wait wait, you're saying the President saved you?!” 

“Yes, Master Gintoki asked me to call him Mr. President since that day.” 

_ “Of course he did,”  _ I thought as I let out a sigh, finally reaching the top of the stairs. We walked around the balcony of the somewhat small apartment. Just above the door was an extremely faded sign that read “ _ Odd Jobs.”  _ Tama lightly slid the door open and motioned for me to step inside. Upon stepping in, I was greeted by an atmosphere that felt almost dusty and old. The light creeping into the room was faint, casting pale shadows of the two sofas and table onto the floor. In one corner sat a small TV set with giant bunny ear antennas on top. Just above the window was an empty frame for a banner, likely one that mimics the outside sign. In front of the window was a single wooden desk cluttered with junk. A pair of thin rimmed glasses were resting on a stack of newspapers, all dealing with the pop idol Otsu. Next to this was a pair of hair bun holders that had yellow swirls on the cover. Underneath these was a box of pickled seaweed completely unopened with a small note reading  _ “For Gin-chan.”  _ He certainly didn't strike me as someone others would be interested in, but maybe there was more to him than what I've seen. Tama came from behind me with a blanket and pillows, placing them down on the couch. 

“You can rest here for the night. Please be respectful and not touch his things or sleep anywhere else,” Tama said sincerely as she bowed and stepped back outside, shutting the door behind her. I reluctantly took my spot on the couch and found myself drifting off into sleep. 

~~~~~~

_ “You are weak, powerless, submissive. Everything a hero shouldn't be, can't be.”  _

I felt a cold sweat rush over me. I was in the middle of a void with no beginning or end, freely floating despite feeling grasped by something sinister. I didn't know the voice, yet it felt familiar and close to me. 

_ “How much strength must a hero have to save the day? How much poison must a villain have to destroy the world? Neither answer matters if you accept me.” _

Several crimson orbs illuminated a path leading to a small purple flame that began flickering in front of me. I felt a tug on my body, my limbs starting to move on their own. Each step forward sent more energy flowing through my body, each muscle pulsating with powerful vigor. I could feel the power, feel the strength, feel no weakness. My face began to twist into a smirk, my eyes narrowing into each other. Everything felt as I had imagined it would be with a quirk of my own. 

_ “Consume my flame, let me course through your body, your veins, your soul.”  _

My eyes snapped back, my smirk slithered away, and my legs stood still. Despite everything I wanted being right in front of me, all for the taking, I knew it wasn't right. This wasn't a power for a hero or villain, it belonged to a monster. I turned away and started running, the orbs turning to mist as I passed them. The mist thickened the farther I ran, engulfing me in a world of crimson where I could see nothing but red. I frantically searched for a way out, but to no avail. The mist started to fill my lungs, suffocating me as I fell to the ground. My life started flashing before my eyes, my memories playing back with a sign in the corner reading  _ “Ten seconds until recap is over. Have a nice afterlife.”  _

_ “Ten seconds? No, this can't be! I must have made more memories than this?!”  _ I thought as I watched the events unfolding in front of me. I couldn't die here. I need more than ten seconds of life worth remembering. I need another chance. “Please! Anyone! Help me, I will do anything! Please!” I pleaded as two seconds remained. As I prepared to close my eyes for the last time, I faintly saw a silver light and heard a voice. 

_ “You will train with Gintoki Sakata. I have deemed it so.”  _


	5. Sadaharu and School Forms Make for a Stressful Day

When I opened my eyes, I was still trapped in a void, except it was a lot more moist than I remembered. It also had several sharp white mountains and a strong wind flow. I tried to move my hands to my head but was stopped by a giant wall of fur.

“Hello! Anyone out there! What is this thing!” I shouted, hoping the silver light would come to my rescue again. I felt vibrations echo inside the void, coming from the top, and was shortly returned to the light.

“Sadaharu! What have I told you about eating people! The only people you can eat are tax collectors, Catherine, and anyone who steals my Jump!” commanded Gintoki in the tone of a harsh mother. I adjusted my eyes to see that he was hitting the giant white dog with a newspaper. When it sat down, Gin backed away from him, let out a sigh, and turned to address me, “And why are you sprawled out on my couch like you own the place?! Don't you know breaking and entering is against the law?!”

“I swear I didn't break in! Otose told me I could stay here for the night, and Tama was the one who let me in and told me where to sleep!” I frantically explained, fumbling over my words.

“Ahh! I know I don't pay rent but that old hag should know to respect a man's privacy…”

“Wait, you don't pay rent? Don't you know that's against the law…” I started to question but was cut off short as Gin rushed over to me and cut off my hearing.

“Hey Writer! Forgive my slip of the tongue! Make him forget what I said about rent! I don't want him getting any ideas about being the rent collector hero! I promise I won't get this story taken down for a few chapters!”

Suddenly, my hearing came back and I forgot what I was about to say. Gin appeared to be in a praying position now, shaking his fists up to the sky with joy. I turned my attention towards the one he called Sadaharu. He was certainly no normal dog, sitting just a bit taller than Gin standing up. His body was three times the size of mine, easily crushing anything he sat on. While his size was threatening, his face told a different story. His large black eyes stared at me softly as his head slightly bobbed up and down as he breathed. His brown eyebrows looked relaxed, coinciding with the slight smile under his light brown nose. Aside from his sharp teeth and habit of gnawing on people, Sadaharu was a cute oversized dog. I put on a slight smile as I walked over to try and pet him. He turned his head slightly as I approached, resolving to put it down as I placed my hand softly on his head.

“Hey kid, consider yourself lucky. He tends to hate anyone that comes near him. The only other person I’ve known to do that was…” Gintoki started to explain but stopped short. He again looked troubled, turning around to walk towards his desk. As he walked away, a clock came into view reading 8:00 AM. 

“Oh no! I’m going to be late to school! And today is the day we have to sign up for our entrance exams!” I exclaimed as I gathered all my belongings, dropping my bag and spilling my possessions in the process.

“Ah! Well you can ride Sadaharu here to school and back, that way I don’t have to take him out for a walk later!” Gintoki excitedly sang, joyfully picking up my belongings and putting them back in my bag. He threw my backpack on my back, placed me on Sadaharu, and smacked his back to run through the open door. “Oh kid! I forgot to ask what school you’re getting into!”

“UA High! I’m going to join the hero course! Thanks for the ride!” I gave him a thumbs up and a smile as I looked back at him. As we dashed forward, it appeared Gin was saying something but I couldn’t make out what it was. One thing I could make out was how he felt. He maintained the look of a troubled man.

* * *

 

Sadaharu was certainly fast. A little too fast actually. As we raced through the streets, vendors left and right had their items blown off the carts and collected by bystanders. He had no idea how stop signs or crosswalks worked, resulting in several near misses with traffic. I tried to slow him down by tugging on his collar, but he just barked in excitement at me and continued his rampage. At one point, we ran into Katsura and Elizabeth as they were enjoying coffee on a bench.

“Ah young boy! I see Gintoki has entrusted his son to you. I’m glad he is trusting people,” Katsura called out as he laughed. Elizabeth didn’t look pleased, rather she held up a sign that read _“Oh so we meet again.”_ I could feel a rumbling underneath me and soon heard Sadaharu let out a small growl. He changed direction to cross paths with Katsura and Elizabeth. While Katsura kept laughing, Elizabeth readied her fists with a red glare in her eyes. I was jolted forward as we crashed into them, completely pummeling Katsura with Elizabeth dodging at the last second to hit Sadaharu from behind. He let out a small yelp, but continued forward with great speed. I looked back to apologize to them, but Katsura was already standing, blood streaming from his head and a smile on his face, “I see you have not mastered control of the beast yet. I would be happy to train you as a friend of Gintoki!” He started laughing again, but I turned my attention away from him, relieved that it was him we crashed into of all people.

_ “You will train with Sakata Gintoki. I have deemed it so.” _

The voice echoed in my head again. What exactly did it mean by that? What exactly was it? I know I said I would do anything in order to be saved, and I don’t mind training with him, but why him? What would the training be for? Hero work? The guy won’t even tell me his quirk and has a hatred for heroes for a reason unknown to me, yet he is supposed to train me? I guess I can ask him when I return and at least see what he says. I shook my head to return to reality and found we had arrived at the school. Standing in front of us was the front entrance and Ka-chan. 

“Looks like Deku got a stupid dog. I bet his brain is as big as his!” mocked Bakugou as he maniacally laughed. I slid off Sadaharu and started to lead him to a tree where he could rest for the day. As we started walking, Bakugou kept throwing insults at us, becoming more and more enraged as we ignored him. Finally, he approached me from behind, placing his hand on my shoulder and spinning me around with a fist waiting for me. I closed my eyes to hide the pain, but the pain never came. Instead, when I opened my eyes, I found Sadaharu gnawing on his head and snarling. “Get this stupid dog off me!” demanded Bakugou as he started setting off little explosions on his hands. I saw Sadaharu wince in pain, and before I knew it, my body started moving on its own. I ran up to Bakugou, restrained his hands, and forced him out of Sadaharu before throwing him to the ground. My eyes widened after I realized what I had just done. I took a quick look at Ka-chan to find some blood dripping from his head, visible bite marks being the source. I looked back at Sadaharu, who was visibly happy with the outcome, as he was now resting peacefully under the tree. I quickly ran inside to avoid any further conflict, leaving behind Ka-chan as he yelled promises of revenge. Why did I do that? That’s an easy question to answer. I had a strong urge to protect Sadaharu when I saw him in pain. The harder question to answer is how did I do that? It wasn’t an insane feat that required a quirk; any normal person is capable of doing it. For me though, someone who doesn’t train and is afraid of anyone more powerful than them, it shouldn’t be possible.

_ “What’s done is done. Right now I need to focus on signing up for the UA Entrance exams and then preparing as much as I can,”  _ I thought. I walked into class and sat in wait for the end of the day where I would put it in ink that I would be attending UA High. However, there was one overwhelming obstacle in the way: the section that asks you to state your quirk. I had no quirk as far as I could tell, and I was hoping that one would make itself known to me before this point. Thankfully I had a backup plan in my hero journal. Ever since I could remember, I have been keeping a list of quirk names that I could most likely pretend to have and get away with it. The list is at least two pages long, and all I have to do is…

_ “Wait a minute. My bag feels more empty than usual. That's strange, my hand hasn't found my journal yet. Oh wait, here it is.”  _ I pulled my hand out of my bag holding my prized possession.

_ Weekly Shonen Jump. _

I started dumping my entire bag's contents onto the desk, with pencils and papers flowing onto the floor. My classmates started staring at the chaos with puzzled looks, adding onto my anxiety. I knew it had to be in here somewhere, I always kept it in my bag so I never lose it. That’s when it dawned on me.  _ “I must have dropped it this morning when I spilled my bag. He must have swapped it for his manga by accident,”  _ I thought feeling slightly relieved. However, knowing where my journal is doesn’t change the fact that I still have to come up with a quirk on my own. What about reflex? The quirk that gives me extremely sharp reflexes, allowing me to dodge almost any attack used against me. Sounds like a nice quirk I guess, but I doubt I could live up to it that easily. Anything that has to do with strength or endurance is certainly out of the question, I’d need more training for that and there isn’t enough time for me to gain super strength. Maybe a beast tamer quirk? Gin said I did well with Sadaharu since he didn’t reject my hand and allowed me to ride him, so it could be a nice quirk. Then again, it requires that I have some kind of beast to tame in order to be useful, and I may have just been lucky this one time, so that can’t be it. None of these sound very hero-like quirk names either, so maybe I should come up with a name first then a power. One-for-all sounds pretty heroic, but what power is that supposed to even have? It can’t have an elemental name either since I can’t control anything a normal person couldn’t.

“Alright class! It’s the end of the day so it’s time to go by the office and turn in your entrance exam applications! Keep in mind, they close in five minutes so make it quick!” the teacher announced as the bell rang to release the students for the day.

_ “Did I miss all of class just thinking about this?! I still have no idea what to write!”  _ I crazily searched the room looking for anything that could help. My eyes fell on a poster displaying the human anatomy.  _ “I guess this will have to do, it shouldn’t be too hard to live up to it and it could prove useful in hero work,”  _ I thought as I filled out the quirk section.

 

_ Name: Izuku Midoriya  _

_ Quirk: Anatomize, enables quick analysis of a situation or person to swiftly adapt combat or rescue measures.  _

 

With my application turned in, I raced outside to find Sadaharu sleeping underneath the tree I left him at that morning. He appeared unscathed, meaning Ka-chan didn’t exact his revenge just yet. I gave him some soft pats to wake him up, promptly getting a lick to the face and a small bark. I smiled at him as I climbed onto his back and raced toward my last obstacle.

* * *

 

“So you see Gin-san, based on my story of the white light and you taking my hero journal this morning, you owe it to me to train me,” I stated as I finished my retelling of the day. Gin appeared unimpressed, flicking his freshly picked booger off to the side.

“The way I see it, you owe me several parfaits and peace after putting Sadaharu in danger AND TAKING MY  _ JUMP!”  _ he exclaimed, jumping onto the couch and raising his voice as he spoke about his manga, “DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW US  _ ONE PIECE  _ FANS FEEL HAVING TO SIT AND WAIT IN LIMBO AFTER SUCH A LONG ARC TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH LUFFY’S BOUNTY HAS RISEN?”

“Gin-san, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

He gave me a look of extreme disappointment as his eyes turned into black holes, “Take your hero journal and leave.” He snatched his manga from me and started pushing me out the door.

“But Gin-san, I have to be trained by you! I’m not sure what training you would give me, but it must be worth something! It has been willed by fate!” I pleaded, trying to plant my feet on the floor.

“Anything willed by  _ Fate  _ is a complete mess! It is never as simple as you claim it was in your dream. Every discussion about  _ Fate  _ requires a timeline and Wiki entries!” he protested, “Here’s my training tip: just go watch some crappy workout video put together by some washed up celebrity. They guarantee results or your money back!”

“But Gin-san I…” He slammed the door in my face and I could hear his footsteps walking away.  _ “I can’t believe he kicked a child out because I didn’t understand his nonsense,”  _ I thought, frustrated that my plan had completely backfired. I sat down with my back against the wall, thinking about what my next move will be.

_ “You will train with Sakata Gintoki. I have deemed it so.” _

The voice echoed in my head again, reminding me of a fact I knew all too well. How can I train with a madman that has kicked me out? As I was thinking, Gin’s last words to me gave me an unconventional training method that just might work if I play my cards right.

_ “I hope you’re ready to be the victim of a stakeout Mr. Sakata.”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week, the UA Entrance Exams will start! Hopefully you all are excited!


	6. Stakeout and Entrance Exam Part 1

In order for my stakeout to be successful, I had to get the help of some people. First, I asked Tama to tell me any and all hiding spots in Gin’s home that I could observe him from. Second, I asked my mom and Otose for their permission to stay at Otose’s while I complete my training for the entrance exams and they obliged. Finally, I asked Katsura-san to approach Gin on specified dates. My plan was to observe him as he went about his day, which hopefully would include some kind of hero work. The next six days would certainly be unpredictable. 

**Day 1:** I found myself inside Gin’s attic, peering through the cracks in the ceiling to watch him from above. He was still sleeping despite it being already noon. I opened my hero journal to be ready to take notes the moment he got up, but I found that someone else had already made notes about several others. 

_ Name: Zura (Kotaro Katsura)  _

_ Quirk: Annoyance, has the ability to instantly ruin any peaceful day  _

_ Note: Despite what he says, Zura is the only name he goes by. Also, he has a tendency to laugh like a child watching a bad comedy.  _

 

_ Name: Elizabeth _

_ Quirk: Mysterious, has the ability to do extremely odd things with unknown origins _

_ Note: I think she hates Sadaharu due to a popularity poll.  _

 

_ “I already know exactly who did this. I can't believe he went out of his way to ruin my journal with these entries,”  _ I thought, frustrated with my findings. I didn’t have time to stay angry since I noticed some slight movement below. I instantly put Gin-san back in my vision, preparing my pen in the process. Sadly, he was only turning over in his sleep and not getting up to start his day. I sat patiently for several hours, drifting in and out of sleep as I waited for Gin-san to wake up. The opportunity never came, and by the time eight at night rolled around, he never once got up out of bed. I started to lose focus, exhausted from the hours of reacting to his tosses and turns. My eyes felt heavy, causing my head to fall forward and bang against the beam. Realizing the thunderous boom I just made, my eyes shot back open to see Gin-san standing upright with a strange cylinder in hand. 

“Aha! I got you now thief! I knew of your presence from the moment I woke up this morning and decided to wait you out. Surprisingly, you’ve lasted this long in silence but your time has come! Spirit Bomb!” he called out as he threw his object at the ceiling. I couldn’t react fast enough, as the impact instantly destroyed my platform. When I opened my eyes, smoke and debris were all around me, creating a smoke screen as my only escape route. I bolted out of the house and fled to the safety of my bed in Otose’s Bar. 

 

**Day 3:**  I took a break on Day 2 from my stakeout since my body was still aching from the fall, but it wasn’t necessarily by choice. Otose had Tama look after me for the day, insisting I took it easy. I knew I didn’t have time to sit around with the entrance exam coming up in a few days. I asked Tama if she knew of any training methods I could do in my condition. In response, she instantly pulled out a training sword and instructed me to start taking vertical swings with it until I couldn’t any longer. I protested this silly suggestion, yet she projected a scoreboard on the wall with Gin’s high score for consecutive swings reading an ungodly number. Determined to beat that lazy samurai, I started swinging the day away. Which brings me to Day 3, where my arms were too sore to take notes so Tama accompanied me for the day. We followed Gin around town as he did absolutely nothing of note, other than cause trouble at every turn for us. He would have random outbursts that resulted in him throwing objects at us. I managed to dodge most of them, but I can’t say the same for Tama, who now wielded a flame-spitting broom intended for Gin’s head. I held her at bay for a surprising amount of time, but eventually she broke free from my grasp and charged at him. In her rage, she ignored crosswalk signals and got launched into a nearby lake by a truck driven by none other than Katsura. 

“Quick small child! Rescue that green haired heroine!” he instructed in semi-serious tone, pointing in Tama’s direction. I ran after her, feeling my muscles cry out in pain with every step I took. What are the odds that I would experience this much fatigue from training in just three days only to have to save someone’s life in the process? The answer didn’t matter, as I had no time to think about anything other than rescuing Tama. When I arrived at the lake, I dove straight in, taking large strokes to cover as much area as possible. Across the lake, I spotted her big red bow floating on the water. Instinctively, I descended to the bottom to rescue her body. Upon dragging her to shore, she opened her eyes like nothing had even happened.

“Congratulations, Master Deku,” she sang as confetti shot out of her hands. I looked at her extremely confused. Does she not understand what just happened? I heard a slight cough behind me, causing my body to swiftly rotate towards the sound, finding no one there. “Excuse my random and meaningless comment there Master Deku, it appears my circuits were knocked loose from the fall,” apologized Tama as she adjusted her hair. 

“Yeeaahh, if you say so. Also you don’t have to call me Master Deku. I’m your friend Deku, not your master.” 

“Updating database. Update complete. Thank you for saving me Friend Deku,” she said smiling widely as she started to walk back home. I let out a sigh as I followed her back home as our third day of the stakeout was complete. 

 

**Day 5:** I have a sneaking suspicion that Gin is onto my plan. He isn’t leaving his house, and he certainly isn’t doing anything out of the normal in his house. Which is exactly why I needed the help of Katsura and Elizabeth. I patiently waited in a closet by Gin’s door, with my journal ready to receive notes. I once again found more entries by that silver headed maniac. 

_ Name: Sarutobi Ayame (Sa-chan)  _

_ Quirk: Masochistic Stalker, has the ability to persistently stalk someone and crave some disgusting pain.  _

_ Note: I will pay you in JUMP volumes to get rid of her.  _

 

_ Name: Sakata Gintoki (Mr. President, Master, Boss, Chief, Odd Jobs)  _

_ Quirk: None, is just that awesome and powerful without the aid of anything but his brain and wit.  _

_ Note: Give me parafaits as payment for training you.  _

 

_ “Training me? What is he even talking about? And who is this perverted ninja that stalks him?”  _ I pondered, being pulled out of thought when the door bell rang. I already knew what would happen next. Gin walked up to the door, opened it, and was greeted by… 

“Gintoki, I am your father,” Katsura, who was dressed in all black with a black helmet, stated with heavy breathing, “Show me how strong you've become. Show me the force…”

“Zura! I don't have time for this as I am a very busy man! Leave at once!” 

“I'm not Zura, I'm Darth Katsura.” 

_ “Who the hell is Darth Katsura? How is this going to make Gin use his quirk?”  _ I thought, as this was not what we had planned out. Gin slammed the door in his face and started walking away. The doorbell rang again, causing Gin to dash over and throw the door open. Katsura was still there, except on his knees begging to Gin. 

“Please grant me a strand of your hair so I can see power you have!” Katsura pleaded, dressed as a boy that looked extremely similar to me. 

“Zura! This is not  _ My Hero Academia!  _ Hey Writer! Stop copying from other works, especially  transferring quirks by hair since its just stupid and nonexistant! I have no quirk to give, so leave!” Gin slammed the door again, but was instantly granted another doorbell ring. 

“Freiza! Now you die! KAMEHAME…” Katsura yelled, now dressed in a strange orange uniform. 

“HA!” screamed Gintoki as he slammed his palms into Katsura’s forehead, sending him flying off the balcony, “Now stay away Zura! And as for you Deku, your stakeout is over so your plot armor is off.” He turned towards the closet where I stood in shock, due to him knowing where I am and being confused on what exactly plot armor is. When he opened the door, everything went black. 

 

**Day 6:** When I awoke, I found myself staring at a familiar ceiling. I turned my head to the side and found Gin sitting on the other couch in his apartment. He noticed I was awake and began to speak, “So have you now learned a valuable lesson about stalking? It’s incredibly rude, especially to your elders. Now pay up the parfait for me training you.” 

“Training me? You have done nothing of the sort! You threw me out of your house and told me to watch a celebrity workout video, so I did. I chose to watch the life of Mr. Sakata and was greatly disappointed!” 

“Awh, you think of me as a celebrity that’s so sweet… Hey no! My life is not disappointing! I had my own plans changed because I found out a certain someone was stalking me when they watched me sleep! And everyday after that was all planned out just because you were stalking me. You gained valuable skills didn’t you?”

“Valuable skills?! I had to stay in bed on day two, save Tama from drowning on day three, and spent day 5 sitting in a closet watching Katsura cosplay as people I don’t know, only to get knocked out in the end!” 

“You increased your focus by staying awake and still all day on both days one and five, your reaction time and reflexes increased as well on days one and three, your strength and determination increased on day two, and you got the advantage of having to save someone from a deadly situation on day three. I would say I trained you very well!” Gin protested, admiring his strange training methods. He honestly had a point, even if the past few days had been complete chaos and didn’t go according to plan. It would explain why Tama told me congratulations but quickly retracted it. Gin must have been the cough I heard as well. I guess this samurai really does have a soft spot for people. 

“Alright, alright, fine I will give you a parfait, but you must train me today. Tomorrow starts the entrance exam and I really need all the training I can get to make up for my lack of quirk.”

“Let me ask you then, why do you want to be a hero?”

“I want to be a hero to protect people who look towards heros for protection,” I stated confidently. 

“Eh, not a very strong dream for a protagonist but it’ll do for now. Sadaharu! Deku will take you for your walk now!” Suddenly, the table in front of us flipped over, revealing Sadaharu underneath. He started barking in excitement, running towards the open door. I felt a strong tug on my leg, looking down to discover that I was tied to his leash. For the entire day, Sadaharu ran through the city with my body being beaten and battered the entire time. 

 

* * *

 

Following a very painful day six, it was finally time for me to take the entrance exam. Gin didn’t have much advice other than “Don’t fail because this story will end with the protagonist losing and the Writer won’t have anything to do with his life,” which of course made no sense to me. I certainly hope I don’t fail, but thankfully I was only worried about the hero simulation section where you would show off your quirk by defeating robots. The first half should be easy since it is just a simple test on your hero and law knowledge, something my hero journal very heavily prepared me for. I had now committed everything to memory, and just hoped I got away with my fake quirk of anatomize. As I walked up the stairs to the building, I felt something bump into me, causing me to spin around and lose my balance. As I fell to the ground, my hand found itself on something hairy.

“Oh I’m so sorry! I was in such a rush trying to make it in time and was such a clutz! I’m really sorry!” she pleaded, finally opening her eyes after her statements. Her eyes were a light brown, perfectly matching her short hair that my hands someway found their way into. She was slightly blushing as she stared up at me, my own gaze stuck on analyzing her face. I could feel my own face becoming extremely red, realizing what position we were in. 

“I-I-I-I’m really s-s-s-sorry! Please forgive me for falling!” I nervously exclaimed as I jumped back up and helped her up. She was wearing a pink and white hoodie, with some gray sweatpants. Honestly, she looked kinda cute… No, no, no Izuku! Focus on the exam!

“No, no its fine! It’s all my fault! An-anyway, I’m Ochaco Uraraka! What’s your name?” she asked, smiling as she held out her hand. 

“Deku! What are you doing here! Get out of my way, you are only holding us true heroes back!” Bakugou shouted as he stormed in between us, giving me a shove backwards. I stumbled a little, but Uraraka grabbed my hand to prevent me from falling. 

“Gosh, that guy was rude. I’m sorry he did that to you Deku. I like your name though! Kinda doubles for a hero name as well in my opinion,” she said supportively. I almost corrected her on my real name but stopped short. She actually liked it and thought it meant something positive and heroic. 

“Ye-yeah! Everyone calls me Deku! My name is Deku, absolutely Deku! Ahaha!”

“Alright! Sounds cool! Let’s hurry so we don’t miss the announcements!” she joyfully shouted, grabbing my hand to pull me along to the assembly hall. As we ran through the hall, thousands of potential students made it difficult to maneuver to the hall. Once we arrived, we found some seats in the middle of the packed auditorium. I was extremely nervous sitting next to a girl that just held my hand all the way to our seats. I had to try and focus solely on the exam for now, the girl later. The loud murmurs started to die down when a strange looking man took the stage. His electric yellow hair was standing straight up in the air, his gray headphones resting at its base. He wore yellow sunglasses, despite being indoors, and had an odd speaker device around his neck. His clothing screamed rock band, with his leather jacket, black pants, black boots, and spiked brown belt.  _ “Wait a minute, I know who this is!”  _

“WHHAAATTT ISSSS UUUPPPP!” Present Mic’s voice echoed throughout the chamber, “MY NAME IS PREEESSEENNNTT MIIIICCCC AND I WILL BE GIVING THE INTRODUCTION TO TOODDAAAYYSSS EXAM!” Every student in the room was covering their ears to prevent their eardrums from shattering. Some of the glass lights had already broken from the intense sound. “ANNNDDDD NOOWWW I WILL BEGIN ON PAGE 1 OF 500 OF THIS YEAR”S MANUEL! PAGE 1 ALL STUDENTS MUST…” Suddenly a loud thud could be heard, silencing the extremely loud voice. When I looked up at the stage, I saw a familiar silver haired maniac. 

“Ahh excuse me! We are terribly sorry for this loud mouth! Who let him out of the storage closet, am I right! Anyways, I’m sure all you kids have already looked up this manual online through Google, not Bing you random kid, I see you! Also, the Writer doesn’t have time to fully explain these common sense, cliche entrance exams in depth so I have to take over from this glorified speaker. Stop being lazy Writer! You promised entrance exams starting this week, but they’ve barely started! Keep this up and you’ll lose your two fans!” he stopped his rant for a moment, hoping the kids would laugh in approval. However, they were all just as confused as I was about who this Writer person was. Gin gave off a little cough before continuing, “As I was saying, Part One will be the test of knowledge. Part Two will be a hero simulation to show off your quirk. I feel really bad for the green haired, quirkless kids out there. Now off to your testing room children! We don’t have all day! My parfaits, I mean my very official UA duties are calling me!” 

_ “This maniac is going to ruin this entire exam isn’t he?”  _ I thought, even more concerned about the exam than I was before. I can only imagine that I will see more lunatics in this exam who have absolutely no reason to be here…

“Alright, well let’s do our best Deku! I’ll see you around for Part Two!” Uraraka smiled as she offered words of encouragement before heading off to her testing room. As I walked through the hall to my room, I knew the rest of my life would be decided based on the results of this day. I could not afford to let anyone or anything ruin it for me. I will become a hero no matter what it takes. 


	7. The Derailed Exam Part 2

“The test itself went about as I expected it to. I knew all my nerd notes in my book would come in handy one day. The test was a breeze, got a 100 on it without breaking a sweat. The second part was also so easy. I swooped in to wrap Uraraka in my arms, saving her from the robots and criminals that kidnapped her. The admissions council was so impressed they gave me the top spot in the placements. Yeah, I’m the best hero alre…”

 

“GIN-SAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING! I NEVER SAID ANY OF THAT!” 

 

“Oh, Deku I didn’t know that you were there. I was just explaining to the readers that you passed the exam and got into UA extremely easy. I figured it was easier this way than having the Writer come up with nonsense to explain plot armor.” 

 

“PLOT ARMOR? WRITER? READERS????” _sigh_  “Gin-san, I still have no idea what you’re talking about, but if you are going to spout off things in your webcam, at least have it be truthful.”

 

“Oh boy, here we go again with the heroic honesty! I was trying to do everyone a favor and make you look good, give the Writer a break, and get the readers into some good content, but oh no! Fine! Sit down and tell them what happened, but no more than one chapter!” 

 

* * *

 

I walked out of my test feeling fairly confident in my performance. All of my note-taking on heroes definitely helped out. I hoped that advantage carried over into the second part of the exam: heroic simulation. The quirk I listed is only good for strategy, meaning I would have to take the lead quickly in a group in order to display any skills. Fighting is out of the question since my training wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Besides, weapons aren’t allowed to be brought into the exam, and the odds of me finding a sword in there seemed very unlikely. Another concern was what did that blue-haired idiot have to do with this exam? He doesn’t seem to have a history as a past hero, nor did he strike me as the type to have done anything with his life to catch the attention of UA. He most likely had nothing to do with the exam and just came to cause trouble for me. As long as he stays far away from me, I don’t care what he does.

 

As I rounded the corner, I saw my section’s waiting room for part two and it wasn’t too crowded. I could only see five other people at the gate; five people I would need to take charge over and strategize a plan with. As I got closer, I could start to make out the faces and figures of the people. Sadly, Uraraka wasn’t one of the five, but I could possibly find her once inside the simulation. As for who was there, three of them appeared to be average for the most part, but the other two stood out. One was a taller guy with a muscular figure accented by a light complexion. One of his eyes was replaced by a glacial sheet that reflected his surroundings and scattered light like a mirror. His face seemed pretty cleaned up, aside from a scar above his glassy eye. His short black hair was slicked back, complimenting his black suit jacket and white button-down shirt. If it wasn’t for his muscles, you’d think he missed a wedding and arrived at the wrong place. It was possible that this was his hero costume, as I’ve heard some people wear it to feel more confident and stand out from the crowd. He certainly looked composed and focused, which may have to do with his costume. However, looking at this older guy, you’d think he would have outgrown that mentality. The other guy who stood out was certainly more colorful and closer to my age. For starters, his short hair was colored half white and half red, with the red matching the massive scar surrounding his one blue eye. On the other side of his face was a scarless brown eye. His demeanor was also serious but seemed more troubled than the other guy. His clothes appeared to be blue long sleeve training gear that had some burn marks on it. Despite their difference in appearance, both men succeeded in intimidating me and making me back away from my plan to lead. The panic started to kick in. 

 

_Come on Deku, maybe if you were a little stronger and had a quirk you wouldn’t be so powerless. You’re just going to let Bakugo beat you again, aren’t you? You’re going to let the others torment you and ridicule you for not making it into UA, aren’t you?_

 

Everything started to turn red. 

 

“Excuse me. I was just letting you know that it would be best to stay out of my way. I do not want to harm any other competitors with my quirk, so please stay away from me,” the teenager stated to me in a calm manner. He started to walk away from me before I could get a response out, his icy stare leaving with him. 

 

“You don’t look like you belong here kid, surely you got in on a recommendation letter being Endeavor’s son and all. Shoto Todoroki isn’t it?” the man in the suit questioned the teenager, stopping him dead in his tracks. The tension in the air was dense, the icy demeanor turning into one of fire.

 

“Yes, I did receive a recommendation letter, but it seems UA never got it, so now I must participate,” Todoroki stated as he turned to face the man that questioned him. Every step he took toward him made my heart beat faster. “If you think I got it because of my disowned father, I invite you to get in my way to see for yourself.” The heat was over as soon as it started, his icy aura returning naturally. The man seemed slightly amused at his remarks, but remained silent with a smirk on his face. I sincerely hoped these two monsters did not face off in the simulation, for my sake at least. The man seemed to sense my nervousness and shot a glance my way, examining my sweat covered face. His eye began to narrow and his mouth started to open when the announcer saved me from the encounter. 

 

_ALLLLL RIGHT EVERYONE! I AM BACK AND BETTER THAN EVVVEEERRRR! I SHALL NOW START READING PAGE 5 OF THE MANUAL DETAILING THE SIMULATION SECTION OF THE EXAAAAMMMM! YOU ARE ALLOWED TO USE ANY WEAPONS YOU FIND THE AREA TO AID IN YOUR BAATTTLLLEEE! SHOW US WHY YOU ARE HERO MATERIAL!!!! NOW FOR THE RULES: 1. NO KILLING OTHER COMPETITORS 2. BE CAREFU-_

 

The announcement stopped abruptly, being followed several loud thuds, evil laughing, and several more loud thuds. “Maybe this is part of the simulation and villains have taken over the exam!” a girl in my group exclaimed in excitement. Soon we had our answer.

 

_Ah, excuse me. It seems I did not hit this mouthpiece hard enough earlier, my apologies. Anyways, go have fun out there, be heroes or whatever. Bonus points to whoever can bring me a parfait back! Chop chop rookies! I am ready to go home! I am going to miss the weather lady!_

 

_“Of course, it’s just Gin-san again and it seems he has hijacked this portion of the test. I might as well be guaranteed failure,”_ I thought in dismay, my arms lifeless at my sides. Anything could happen with this maniac in charge, and I can only hope the others are more tripped up by it than I am. I didn’t have much time to plan out all the possibilities since the countdown timer started ringing in my ears, the door ahead slowly opening. It was time for the second part of the exam and the determination of my future. 

 

* * *

 

“Excuse me, Deku, I would like to interrupt you right here to correct some of those descriptions of me. Maniac? Nowhere close. Blue haired idiot? My hair is silver for crying out loud! And the lowest blow of all, assuming I have done nothing with my life! I will have you know I hold the record for sweets consumed at Halloween in this bar!” 

 

“Thanks for the recap, Gin-san! Now I will continue the story” 

 

“NO, YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH THAT…”    
  


~

  
“HEY WRITER, DONT YOU DARE CUT ME…” 

* * *

 

As I stepped out of the door, I was greeted by a great city with blocks and blocks of stores and alleys. Everything was perfectly in place, no sign of enemy activity. No sign of enemies at all for that matter. The group of people I was with scattered off in all directions, with Todoroki running ahead with the suit guy following closely behind. I decided to run straight ahead into the heart of the city, where there was bound to be a weapon or citizen to save. It would also ensure I was far away from two known threats. Little did I know that the center of the city would be more dangerous than those two combined. 

 

I kept passing shops one after the other, all of them completely barren of people, furniture, and objects. The sidewalk was laced with green vines running along with me, slipping in and out of the cracks beneath my feet. My body and mind was in full alert, watching for any sign of a quirk being used. Normally, I would have some idea of what quirk my opponent wielded, but UA kept the participants completely secretive, meaning you only knew by word of mouth who was in and what quirk they had. Obviously I knew explosions most likely meant Ka-chan was nearby, which would make me run in the opposite direction of the sounds. The more concerning issue at hand was the lack of robots or criminals or citizens present, despite being in the middle of a big city that would normally be bustling and busy all hours of the day. The entire premise of this section was saving people or fighting bad guys, yet neither opportunity presented itself yet. As I passed an intersection, a flash of pink caught my eye. I twisted my body to see Uraraka running in my direction, smiling and waving at me while calling out my name. For a moment, I felt like I was experiencing a reunion with a lover after being separated for far too long. I started to smile as I called out her name and ran towards her, feeling comfortable knowing I now had a partner in this fight. For a moment, I felt like I had a chance in this exam. 

 

“Aha! I have caught you now pink girl! Thank goodness there is no small child around to save this pink princess for our clutches!” a man in a black mask called out as he stepped out of the shadows, quickly tieing Uraraka up and blindfolding her. He started to look in my direction as he hoisted her over his shoulders, “Oh no! It seems like my crime was witnessed by a small child! I hope he doesn’t chase after me!” I felt a slight surge of adrenaline in my veins despite the shock of what just happened. Breaking out in a sprint before I could think, I started to chase after the criminal. I was surprised that UA permitted the kidnapping of potential students in an exam, but I guess its true to the real world unpredictableness. My ears started to pick up on something as I ran, a static-like voice coming from across the road. 

 

_You morons! I did not say “Hey, go kidnap a girl and commit an actual crime!” You are just supposed to distract broccoli head from the exam! Hey! Do you copy Zu_

 

“HAHA! Our boss this time is full of energy! Partner! Why don’t you turn off that walkie talkie, we got it covered!” the criminal shouted across the road to a rather large figure that had duck like fins and beak. 

 

_“Wait a minute. Large duck-like figure working with a crazy man,”_  I thought to myself. I knew exactly who these two criminals were. I stopped running and started walking back to where I came from. The criminal kept laughing as he ran, eventually realizing I was no longer chasing him. 

 

“Hey! Small child! Why did you stop chasing us criminals who have kidnapped your love interest!” he called back to me in a pitiful villain voice.

 

“Katsura, I know it’s you and Elizabeth. I know she is in no real danger and as long as I don’t go after you, you’ll let her go. Now I have an exam to do if you would please let her go,” I retorted as I continued to walk away.

 

“A real hero does not turn away from any criminal, regardless of their threat level! And to the spectators, you are running away from a citizen in need! We are doing you a favor!” Katsura called back to me. I stopped walking. He was right, a real hero wouldn’t walk away from a crime of any size, wouldn’t walk away from criminals of any intelligence level. I let out a sigh and resumed my pursuit much to Katsura’s delight. He kept laughing as we ran, taking random turns until we found ourselves in an empty alleyway. Elizabeth had found their way to his side, standing guard of Uraraka. It seemed whatever they had planned would not be over soon. 

 

“Look, I am willing to play along, but we both need to get back to the actual exam and earn some points…”

 

“Haha! I figured you would say that small child! That is why I had Tama, I mean my computer specialist hack into all the camera drones and isolate them on this location to witness our villainous feats!” he shouted in triumph as several drones began flying overhead. Sure enough, the red recording lights were lit up on every single drone. 

 

_You moron! I told you to drag Deku away from all the action, not make him the center of attention! Were you even listening to me Zur..._  the walkie talkie blared in anger before Elizabeth smashed it on the ground. The voice on the other end sounded oddly familiar to me, but now was no time to think about that. With all eyes on me facing off against an oversized duck and a crazy samurai, I had to save Uraraka. I scanned my surroundings, finding no weapons and my only escape route being the path behind me. I noticed on Zura’s hip was his own sword, the only thing I could possibly use in this moment. The only question was how do I get my hands on it? 

 

“Oh great villain! Would you please explain to the audience what your grand plan is? I’m sure I’ll be helpless to stop it!” I stated nervously, trying to make him play his role to the extreme. If I could just get him to monologue with a little encouragement…

 

“Haha! You thought I would reveal my plan to you so easily! I will not fall into that cliche where you beat me after I explain my plan! I will explain my plan and then beat you! Ever since I was a boy, I dreamed of…” Katsura started his speech off. As he turned to face all the cameras, I knew it was my time to move. I broke into a sprint, keeping my eyes trained on his sword and watching for his body to turn back towards me. I started to slide into him, my hands drawing out his sword and slicing the blindfold and restraints off Uraraka. My hands started trembling right after, my mind unsure of how I pulled off such a maneuver so perfectly. I stumbled back up on my feet and helped Uraraka back to her feet before making our escape. Katsura soon began shouting at me for interrupting and disrespecting his tragic backstory, but I couldn’t hear him over Uraraka thanking me.

 

“Deku that was awesome! Is your quirk something related to swords? Or is it flexibility? Maybe even strength? Whatever it is, you certainly saved the day!” 

 

“”My real quirk is nothing that special, I can just analyze things,” I stated awkwardly while trying to crack a smile. The sword was still trembling in hand, partly due to nervousness of what will happen next, partly due to it being a real sword, and partly due to all the drones still following us. The cameras seemed to be focused on me, but they also glanced ahead were loud noises were erupting. Sparks were flying, fire hydrants busted, and some buildings were crumbling. The fact that the cameras ignored all this for a larping session made me question the legitimacy of the test. Nevertheless, we were heading towards this madness and out of the madness someone was heading towards us. A man in a fancy suit, reflecting light off his glass eye, had the look of someone with the intent to kill. We needed a way out and fast. 

 

“Uraraka, what’s your quirk? Can it get us away from all this, especially that man?” 

 

“Sure thing Deku! I hope you are ready to fly, but be warned! I will be sick upon landing!” she stated as she touched both our arms. Suddenly I felt weightless, the feeling of solid ground escaping beneath me. We were floating, and Uraraka looked sick. The guy was closing in on us, and we were nowhere near high enough to escape his grasp. I shut my eyes in preparation for his wrath, but it never came. Rather, a very frantic announcer came through the loudspeakers. 

 

_Excuse me, but the time limit has been reached! Uh, all quirk usage will now be deemed illegal so do not engage in any more combat! I repeat, no more combat or quirk usage!_

 

Uraraka released us from her quirk, falling to the ground and throwing up on the concrete. I stood on my feet, staring face to face with the man in the suit. He looked disappointed, but his eye gave no clue as to why. Paramedics soon came rushing past us to treat the wounded, but our stare never broke. After a few moments, he started to walk towards the exit, muttering some parting words to me. 

 

“Next time, Deku. Next time, there will be no time limit.”

* * *

 

“And with that, the entrance exam was over. A few days later, I received my letter from UA saying I was admitted into the Class 1-A Hero Course. My written test was nearly perfect and they were especially impressed with my performance in the second part. They had no idea those criminals were in the exam and they certainly never authorized the kidnapping of competitors, so solving that situation was very heroic. They also noted how little damage I caused to the arena when compared to the other students. Whether it was luck or skill that made me pass the exam, I am truly grateful that I will be attending UA High,” I finished speaking into the webcam. 

 

“It wasn’t luck or skill that made you pass. It was plot armor! Let me spell it for you, P-L-O-T-SPACE-A-R-M-O-R!” Gintoki protested for the millionth time since he found out about my acceptance. I didn’t have time to engage with his nonsense at this time. I needed to prepare for my first day of school.


End file.
